


Graciously Given Gratitude

by dralexreid



Series: Dr Piper Bishop [62]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Family, Fluff, Gen, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28703310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dralexreid/pseuds/dralexreid
Summary: Piper almost forgets that she's hosting Thanksgiving after her close call with Drew Jacobs and invites Spencer to spend Turkey Day with her family.
Relationships: Dr Spencer Reid/Dr Piper Bishop
Series: Dr Piper Bishop [62]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972852
Kudos: 14





	Graciously Given Gratitude

Piper loved Spencer’s apartment, the avocado colour walls and amber sconces made her feel as though she’d stepped back into the 1930s, obviously without the economic crisis. Her boyfriend’s taste in furniture was just as exquisite, with leather couches and antique bookshelves. The only drawback was that it was built for one person and her own things would have to take space in nooks and crannies. Her place didn’t have the character his did and everything about his apartment felt like him, from the books lining his shelves to the furnished wood that their dinner currently sat on. She had always been honest with him, and she did want to move in with him. But she’d be lying if she said her place wouldn’t be more practical. “I’m just saying my place is a lot bigger and half your wardrobe is there anyway,” Piper argued, passing Spencer his soda.

“But I like this place,” Spencer protested. “It’s close to the station, there are three optimal bookstores surrounding us and it’s not in the heart of DC. No terrorist attacks.” Piper laughed at the accuracy of the last one, flopping down on his leather couch.

“I know, but you only have so many shelves for your books, imagine fitting my collection here. And you’ve forgotten about Maybelle and Lorelai,” she reminded them, and Spencer sighed.

“You are not playing rock music in this apartment,” he warned. “My landlord hates me already.” Piper folded her mouth into a line.

“I just don’t want to leave my girls alone in my apartment.”

“Guitars don’t feel lonely,” he reminded her.

“Yeah, well, Maybelle gets grumpy if I don’t play her at least once a week,” she grumbled, leaning on Spencer’s shoulder as he grabbed his slice of pizza. Piper gazed around the apartment. “You know, we could just redecorate, shift things around.”

“I’m pretty sure at least half of anything that can be moved is probably at your place.”

“You mean your leather bag collection?” Piper joked. “Derek could help. You know he flips houses in his spare time, right?” Spencer nodded, chewing slowly. “He’d be a good mediator too.”

“No, he wouldn’t. He’s more scared of your Jane Austen collection than he is of me.”

“Words are weapons, he should know better,” Piper giggled as Spencer tilted his head. She closed the gap between their lips, tugging softly on his upper lips as her ringed fingers interlaced on his shoulder. His slice lay forgotten as Piper’s soft fingertips ghosted his cheek. Warmth bloomed along his neck as her fingers trailed down to his chest. Spencer pulled away, looking at the gold bracelet gracing her wrist, the small key dangling with his breath.

“We don’t have to do anything right now,” Spencer said, lacing his hand in hers, and Piper laughed, nestling her head in the crook of his neck so her hair tickled his jaw. “And we have tomorrow off for Thanksgiving.” Piper groaned, her head falling off his shoulder, making him laugh. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t think—what do I do? Luce and Dan are coming tomorrow morning and I have nothing ready and—” He interrupted her with a forehead kiss.

“Piper, baby, we don’t have to do anything right now. Tomorrow morning, we’ll figure it out. Only thing that matters to me is being with you,” he said, calming Piper’s panicked expression. She grumbled, cuddling into him.

“Stop being so romantic, it’s unfair,” she whined, leaning her back on his shoulder with her bare feet up on the couch, grabbing her slice of pizza.

“I can’t help it,” he said between mouthfuls of pizza. They let a documentary on the public school system play in the background as they discussed Thanksgiving traditions. Every now and then, Piper would add something else that could be moved around to make room. But in the end, the pizza was finished, the soda drained, Piper asleep on Spencer’s lap only waking up to drag Spencer to the bedroom because ‘his neck would kill him in the morning’ and he ‘had no notion of self-care’. He was far too tired to retort and far too eager to cuddle with her.

* * *

Spencer woke to an empty bed, wrinkling his nose as he blinked, looking around the room for signs of his partner. As usual, she’d woken up unnaturally early, evident from the folded clothes on a vintage chair in the corner of the room. She’d left out a handsome outfit for him with a note reminding him that her siblings would arrive at her place by 9 am. The helmet which usually hung on a hook was missing, as were her copy of the house-keys and her leather jacket, meaning she’d probably left to her own apartment to get ready. Sighing at the panicked mess his girlfriend was probably in, he left to get ready and join her.

He made his way up the steps to her apartment, pulling out his copy of her keys, unsurprised by the faint rock music playing through the door. He turned the key to reveal a man fixing streamers to Piper’s ceiling. “Hey, it’s the good doctor!” Daniel greeted cheerfully, waving from his perch on the stool.

“Hi,” Spencer said, smiling easily as he dumped his bag and coat on Piper’s rack. “It’s uh, it’s good to see you again.” Done with his task, Daniel jumped down from his perch.

“Piper forgot it was Thanksgiving, didn’t she?” Daniel whispered to him. Spencer nodded, rubbing the back of his neck at the younger man clapping his back. “I knew it! She’d never admit it, but I knew she forgot.” Daniel grinned giddily at catching his older sister out and Spencer realised that perhaps giddy smiles was genetic. Before he knew it, Daniel had taken him by the arm, explaining their Thanksgiving customs as Piper emerged from the front door with a large bag of groceries and Lucy trailing behind her. Spencer couldn’t help smiling at Piper as she fussed over everything and Lucy complained about her being a mother hen while Daniel groaned at Lucy’s terrible humour. He couldn’t stop laughing as the trio got into an argument on whether or not Piper had forgotten it was Thanksgiving and definitely couldn’t stop staring at Piper’s dress. Her hair fell in bouncy curls over her dark red sweater and she noticed his smile as his gaze shifted to her black skirt. He was so preoccupied, he almost didn’t hear Lucy say she’d get busy setting up the tree, becoming confused at the twine, leaves and white ink pens she started scattering. Piper laughed, promising to explain everything if he helped her with their lunch.

“So, you know how my mom was a history professor, right?” Spencer nodded, watching mesmerised as she started pulling things out of her bag. “She always taught us that things are never what they seem to be and to question everything.”

“So, the whole Pilgrim-Indian story?” Spencer presumed.

“Yeah. She taught us all about America’s colonial history. How Native Americans had been here for at least 12,000 years. How they’d had centuries of contact with the Europeans which was bloody and violent and involved slave raiding. And when the Wampanoag leader, Ousamequin, arrived, it wasn’t by any invitation. He’d brought a small army because he thought the English were under attack and he was going to honour a mutual defence pact they’d both made. Long story short, she taught us what really happened.” Piper smiled ruefully. “My history teacher at the time, she tried to teach us the watered-down, romanticised version and she’d invited everyone in the PTA to join. My mom, she uh, she put her hand up and asked the teacher what the name of the tribe was and practically tried to bully her into telling us the truth. I mean, I was probably 7 or 8 years old and I loved her for it,” Piper said with a watery chuckle. Spencer leaned forward, placing his hand on the back of hers as Linkin Park started playing on her speaker.

“She sounds great.” Piper smiled warmly.

“Well, I think she’d love you,” she said, rubbing his hand. “Anyway, Dad wasn’t nearly as big of a jackass back then, so he didn’t care if we changed tradition a little. We’d make turkey burgers and apple pie, and Daniel would help Lucy make a thanksgiving tree.”

“Okay, that part I’m still confused about,” Spencer said, popping up to take a seat on the high kitchen counter. Piper laughed.

“Daniel was about 5 and they’d done it at his preschool and he told Lucy about it. She was convinced that it wouldn’t be a holiday if we didn’t do it. So, Dad took them outside and they collected twigs and leaves and when they got back, we wrote what we were all thankful for on the leaves and Dad would hang them up.” Piper’s smile was mournful as she spoke, the memory of a good father still vivid in her mind as her hands worked. “They don’t remember that Dad wasn’t always so bad.” She glanced over at her siblings, the twin lights of her life, laughing as they threw leaves at each other.

“Tell me about him,” Spencer asked softly. Piper glanced at him warmly.

“He used to have this laugh,” Piper said, slicing through tomatoes. “And he used to pick up Lucy like she was a sack of potatoes because it always made her laugh. He always knew how to do that. He taught me how to play guitar when I was 4,” she said, a sad smile playing on her face as she started slicing onion rings. “He bought me this little guitar and he sat with me for hours playing all kinds of songs. And he’d always tuck us in at night. And then Mom died, and he just changed,” Piper said, as if reliving the very moment her father had become cold. “Daniel was 10 and Lucy was only 8 and none of us could figure out what we’d done. He’d barely said a word after the funeral and…and after that it was like we were walking on eggshells every day. I felt like a stranger in my own home,” Piper said, trying not to cry, her hands shaking as she sliced.

Lucy’s call shook her from her thoughts and Piper wiped her hands, plastering on a smile as she joined her siblings. Spencer slipped off of the counter, landing on his feet before glancing around at Piper’s bright laugh. Lucy had hung two leaves on Piper’s ears, like they were earrings. Lucy had put a headband on Daniel with maple leaves tied to it, so it looked like a pair of antlers. Spencer couldn’t hold back a smile as the three siblings basked in each other’s light. Lucy shrieked for the pen as she wrote what she was most grateful for on five different leaves. Daniel proclaimed that she was hogging the pen, stealing it from her and using Piper’s back as a desk. Piper obliged, turning to see Spencer with his arms crossed in the kitchen, smiling warmly at them. Piper held her arms out, beckoning for him as though she were a five-year-old. Spencer walked over, an electric guitar riff filling out gaps in laughter and conversation while Lucy gravitated towards the wine. Grumbling, Daniel followed, not trusting his little sister around alcohol, especially when she had just turned 21. “So, what are you grateful for this year?”

“Easy, you.” Spencer smiled and Piper stuck out her tongue.

“Seriously, what are you grateful for?”

“But I thought your mom said that gratitude has nothing to do with Thanksgiving,” Spence said, smirking until Piper pushed him into an armchair. He fell laughing as he plopped onto the plush seat.

“Be content with what you have,” Piper started reciting as Lucy started flouncing over to the duo, dancing along to the music as she passed Piper a wine glass

“Rejoice in the way things are,” she continued, and the sisters looked over to Daniel smiling, walking over with a glass of lemonade soda for Spencer.

“When you realise there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you,” Daniel finished.

“Lao Tzu,” Spencer acknowledged, grudgingly accepting the white pen to write his thanks while the three Bishops took to the kitchen. Within the hour, a delicious smell had filled the house immersing itself with the sound of laughter and conversation. Lucy took it upon himself to regale Spencer with stories of Piper’s adolescence between bites of burger. Spencer watched his girlfriend flush pink as Lucy told him of Piper’s first baseball game when she had successively thrown sliders and fast-balls at four boys simply because they’d teased Daniel before the game. Piper watched as Spencer listened enthusiastically to Daniel’s courtroom exploits and Lucy’s film school ideas. Somehow, Spencer had managed to sew together the tatters of the Bishop family, making up for the voluntary and involuntary gaps in their Thanksgiving. So, after their lunch, when the four of them sat scattered around the living room watching a Disney movie marathon, Piper took the time to express her own gratitude to him. While Daniel took a seat beside Piper on the couch to watch the Little Mermaid, one of Lucy’s choices, she laced her fingers through Spencer’s and, settling her chin on Spencer’s shoulder, whispered a ‘thank you’.


End file.
